S4E5: Demystifying the Postdoctorate

The fourth Season of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s Building Up the Nerve podcast, where we discuss the unwritten rules, or “hidden curriculum,” of scientific research at every career stage. We know that navigating your career can be daunting, but we're here to help—it's our job!

In episode 5, we talk about succeeding as a postdoc, including what graduate students need to know about what to ask during a postdoc interview, how to develop independent lines of research, and when to know it’s time to enter the job market.

Featuring E. Mae Guthman, Postdoctoral research fellow, Princeton University; Rapheal Williams, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Washington; and Mai-Anh Vu, Postdoctoral fellow, Boston University.

Resources

• Parent K99/R00 NINDS webpage: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/training-career-development/postdoctoral-fellows/nih-pathway-independence-award
• Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Re-envisioning NIH-supported Postdoctoral Training: https://acd.od.nih.gov/working-groups/postdocs.html 
• NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2023: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-23-076.html 
• NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (skip the postdoc): https://commonfund.nih.gov/earlyindependence 
• Loan Repayment Program (LRP): https://www.lrp.nih.gov/ 

This episode has been edited since its original publication.

Transcript available at http://ninds.buzzsprout.com/.